Elegant Designs from Simple Folds

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We are very proud to be participating in Art in Action 2013 from August 18th to 21st. This is a wonderful event with international artists demonstrating their skills, practical classes, lectures, performances and of course food! We will be teaching during the event, sharing our enthusiasm for paper folding.

It looks like the sun will be shining brightly for us, so come along and have some fun!

“…The paper it’s printed on, for example, is exquisite. Big publishers will usually prefer standard paper over more expensive variants. I assume it doesn’t pay off in the general case. However, there’s something special about origami books. Many that buy them don’t just love to fold paper, they also love paper itself. So feeling the great quality of the paper while leafing through the book is a true pleasure to me. I couldn’t stop myself from stroking the cover and the pages carefully several times, enjoying the feel of the paper, smiling to myself.

There are other hints of the great quality of this first publication by Busy Hands Books, which was specifically set up to publish Origami for All. The subtitle of the book, Elegant Designs from Simple Folds carries through not only in the origami designs – more on that later – but also in the presentation of the book. The cover is held deliberately simple, featuring a line drawing of one of Ioana’s designs also presented in the book, a penguin. It is dark blue, just like the print inside – another detail that gives this book its own character. Elegant is definitely one of the terms that I’d use to describe the book…”

“…True to its subtitle the designs are simple, and yes, elegant. The diagrams are very clear, Eric Gjerde did a wonderful job presenting Ioana Stoian’s designs in a very accessible way. No explanatory text accompanies the step diagrams, and there is no need – a testimony to the quality of the diagrams. This also enabled Ioana and Eric to present the book in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German, and Japanese. The introduction, the pages explaining all folding symbols and basic folds, as well as all names of the designs presented are translated into these five languages. Finally, being able to omit adjoining text makes the presentation that tad more elegant, that simple elegance that can only be achieved with a minimalistic approach. Ah, I suppose it’s obvious I quickly and deeply fell in love with the book, and I haven’t even really talked about the designs themselves yet…”

Sara has done a great, in-depth write-up, and I highly recommend giving it a read if you’re curious about the book. Long story short, she loved it, and we’re so happy to read that in a review!

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One month has passed since we launched our book and the response has been fantastic! This is one of the best projects I’ve ever done — so much positive energy has been sent my way from people I’ve never met. I’m still working hard on getting the book in stock at more independent bookshops. I am eager to promote this art form, and I am happy to come and do a free workshop to introduce this fun activity. We’ve been to quite a few European origami conventions and the response has been great!

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I had the great pleasure of meeting Austrian graphic designer Julia Schönhuber at the German origami convention 2013. Julia makes absolutely stunning kaleidoscopic paper in a huge range of sizes,colours and designs.

When using this paper it’s fascinating to see the patterns change every step of the folding sequence. I certainly enjoyed the process whilst using it for my latest flower design!

Julia is currently working on an online store which should be up and running later in the year, but in the mean time you can check out Origami with Julia

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I am very pleased to announce that the book is now available for purchase. I’m happy with how it turned out and I hope you will be too.

Eric and I have just returned from the German Origami Convention in Weimar and the French Origami Convention in Dijon, where the book was well received. I look forward to hearing from those who now have a copy and seeing the models in all kinds of papers and sizes.
Our next stop is Kraków, the Polish Origami Convention on May 29th- 2nd June.
Copies will be available and I’ll be around to sign them.

I will be holding a free workshop at Captured on the Rye in East Dulwich on 22nd May from 4-5pm.
Come along and join the fun!

We will set up an ‘events’ section on the website shortly. If you would like to have an origami workshop in your local school/library/bookshop/cafe let them know or contact me. I’m based in South East London.